Quarter-Million Bond For MHS Renovations Approved

A request to borrow $250,000 for design and project management services for renovating received final approval from the Melrose Board of Aldermen on Tuesday night.

that the renovations would take three years and could cost up to $7 million, with the city on the hook for $5 to $5.5 million of that. The exact cost of the project won't be determined until the city hires an architectural firm, using the $250,000, to design the renovations.

Mayor Rob Dolan has repeatedly said in recent months that renovations of the 36-year-old building is his primary goal, a point he reiterated to the aldermen's Appropriations Committee last week. In June 2011, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) .

The renovations would include turning the Resource Center into a modern Technology Center, building and new .

The school's heating, ventilation and air conditioning system would be targeted through an energy performance contract, with the bond for the improvements paid off by the energy savings, and the building would also be generally spruced up from an aesthetic perspective.

On Tuesday night, Ward 2 Alderman Monica Medeiros, the aldermen's representative on the building committee, reiterated her point from last week that the renovations—which school officials said would promote collaborative learning—would allow the school to implement higher education teaching and learning strategies.

"The vision here for this renovation is really to bring the learning style up to the college level at the high school," Medeiros said. "Our kids at Melrose High School would learn in the same way and same kind of environment that college students learn."

Ward 6 Alderman Peter Mortimer said that improvements to the high school would improve "everyone's property's values," make Melrose safer by having better educated children and attract parents who may be exploring the option of sending their child to a private high school.

During the public participation portion of the meeting, former Melrose School Committee Ed Batchelder floated a dramatic idea to address Melrose High School's warning status as it pertains to the building's condition—switching the purpose of the high school and adjacent and state-of-the-art Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, making MHS the middle school building and MVMMS the high school building.

Mortimer said that Batchelder had an "interesting idea," although more suited to debate among the School Committee, school administration and Mayor Rob Dolan.

Medeiros said that she has heard Batchelder's idea "out on the street many times," and said that the middle school was specifically designed for that age group, both in terms of classroom style and learning approach, and facilities that are smaller or lower to the ground "because not everyone is the height they'll get to in high school—at least some of us get to in high school," cracked the petite alderman.

"The middle school, which is well-beyond the point of design, was really, truly designed for MS students," she said. "I think we’re probably past the point of being able to do that."